Improvement in the method of producing imitation-pearl surfaces



UNITEDSTATE O F E;

r nnnuuucurnnismi, OF CINCINNATI, oHIo.

LIIMPROVEMENAT I THE METHoopF PRODUCING IMITATION-PEARLSURFACES. u

\ Specification formingpart of LettersP atent No. 198, 753, datedJanuary 1, 1e78 application filed i a i .Ji11y'16,1877. i a,

Toall whom it may cohcern:

Be it known that IfFRANK TUGHFARBER,

a resident of the city of, Cincinnati, in the county of Hamiltonandf state of. Ohio, have invented a newand useful Mode of Producing Imitation-Pearl Letters on Metallic Signs or e Show-Cards, of which the following is a specidfication:

Heretofore, in providing signs with pearl n letters or pearl surfaces for any purpose, it has been customary to employ a very expensive article, viz., pearl-veheer-thatis, thin sheets 1 of real mother-of-pearl.

111130 the desired shape, are glued or otherwise These veneers, cut

affixed to the rear side of a piece of glass forming the foundation of the sign. All painting and ornamentation are also done on the rear side of the glass, the transparency of the latter being the means employed to display the sign. Such signs are very costly, and, owing to their brittle nature, are very perishable.

The substitution of sheet metal for glass as the foundation to receive the letters and ornamentation of signs is a valuable improvement.

Such metal signs are durable, and can be u made more rapidly and cheaper than the "glass signs aforementioned.

'Heretofore it hasbeen impossible to produce" a good pearl letter or pearl surface on metallic i 1 signs-first, because the use of pearl-veneer is objectionable, 1 I i the metal, theveneerprojected out from and inasmuch as, when affixed-to above the rest of the lettering, &c., of the sign,

and thus imparted: to the latter a rough and imsi'ghtlyappearance and, secondly, because it has been impossibleto producea good imitation of the pearl surface.

I My invention enables the artisan to produce on the metallic base a lustrous, handsome, and perfect imitation of the real pearl with great celerity and at a trifling expense, the surface of the imitation of pearl being substantially even with the rest of the face-work of the sign, thewhole producing anew, beautiful, and dei. sirable article ofmanufacture.

My invention consists, first, in providing i the face of the metallic base of the signwith a bright, lustrous surface, lized ,and, secondly,in shading such surface u i where the pearl surface is to appear with those tints which characterize the mother-of-pearl.

preferably crystal- Anotherportion ofjiny invention has particularlyto-do'with the productionof a, pearl? surface on metallic sign's where made byfirst printing the designupon paper i or alike material, andthen transferring, the same to the'face of the metallic base; and con.

sists of certain details more particularly hereinafter described.

of metal. That side of the latter which is to preferably so prepared as to be termed in the 'art crystallized. If the sign is tobe painted by hand, all of the painting and ornamentation may be done except those portions of the surface of the metal base where the imita tion of pearl is to appear, which is left'uni painted, so that the surface of the metal shall i show through. These unpainted surfaces are i then skillfully coloredwith the purple and azure tints characteristic of mother-of-pearl. Thesign is then varnished. The crystallized base, in connection with the pearl tints and i the luster imparted by the varnish,"pr'esents to the eye a beautiful imitation of pearl.

But the principal benefit of myinvention accrues in the case where. the metallic signs and show-cards are produced by first printing 011 paper or other suitable material-the device or designifor the'sign, and afterward transfer i 7 ring such device or design from the paper to the metallic base. As this method of trans fer is well understood by those employed or engaged in the manufacture of metallic showcards and signs, it is unnecessary to describe such method here. 4 p

In applying my invention in connection with this transfer process I proceed as follows, viz:

I employ a sheet of metal (sheet-tin preferred) as the foundation of the. sign. That side of the metal which is to receive the design must be bright, and is preferably crystallized. The

design to be transferred to the metal" surface is printedupon paper, &c., the surface of the I latter being left blank wherever the pearly surface is to appear. On these blanks are thenprinted the shades of colors of the tints which characterize the mother-ofpearl, the

shading being so done as to perfectly imitate the'shades as they actually appear in the real pearl. In order to prevent the bright or crys Asthe foundation for the sign, I take a sheet tallized surface of the metal from showing through at points other than those desired,

the paper, after being printed as aforesaid, finally receives a coat of opaque color, applied to those parts of the design Where the surface of the metal base is not intended to show through. The design is then transferred to the metal base in the customary manner, and the face of the sign. varnished. It Will then be apparent thatthe combination of the bright metallic surface and the mother-of-pearl tints and the luster imparted to the same by the varnish have produced a beautiful and successful imitation of pearl.

I The motherof-pearl tints need not-be printed on the transfer-paper, but can be applied directly to the surface of the metal base by a brush or'other appropriate instrument; But

7 the more convenient and better method is to apply the tints to the paper, as aforementioned.

I When it is considered how rapidly and effect, then paintingorprinting thereon in imitation of mother-of-pearl, and finally varnishing, substantially as described.

2. A sign composed of a crystallized metallic base, having produced thereon the tints peculiar to mother-of-pearl, and varnished, substantially as described.

FRANK TUGHFARBER.

Atte'st: p

ROB RT CHRISTOPHER, G. WALTON, J r. 

